Isaac Makhdoomi as composer and performer
A recorder piece in baroque style and a contemporary solo work from his pen have recently been published. He can also be heard on the CD "Vivaldi Concerti per flauto e Arie".
Born into an Indian-Swiss family, recorder player Isaac Makhdoomi not only carries two cultures in his heart, but is also at home as a musician and composer in a wide variety of styles. His Sonata per Flauto dolce arose from the need to add a piece to the solo works of the Baroque period, taking into account the feasibility of using the recorder, i.e. its instrument-specific advantages and limitations. The result is a four-movement work that is melodically reminiscent of Telemann, also of Corelli and harmonically reminiscent of Bach in places, but in which small French and English ornaments can also be found - a charming multicultural baroque sonata or suite, so to speak.
Makhdoomis Catching Moments on the other hand, is a contemporary, traditionally notated composition divided into three sections and entitled "mystical, free". The beginning and end have an improvisatory character and are reminiscent of Indian flute music. Again and again, the music lingers on longer notes in order to move towards a pause or the next long note in short, fast runs or rhythmic sequences. The rhythmic, faster middle section is intended to be rhetorical, beginning with noisy and precisely notated syllables to be spoken into the flute and then discharging into multiphonics and audible finger clacking.
Isaac Makhdoomi cannot be easily pigeonholed as a performer either. He has been known to television audiences since his appearance on "Switzerland's Greatest Talents" as part of the band Sangit Saathi, where he elicited funky sounds from the recorder and delighted the audience. His newly released CD with the concerti by Antonio Vivaldi shows a completely different side of the musician. The cleverly conceived and exceptionally beautifully mixed album, in which Makhdoomi juxtaposes the well-known concerti with two aria jewels, impresses not only with its powerful virtuosity, clearly contoured dynamics, exciting instrumentation in the continuo and improvisatory moments, but above all with its great individuality and longing for sound in the lyrical and richly ornamented slow movements.
Isaac Makhdoomi: Sonata per Flauto dolce, for treble recorder solo, N 2462, € 11.90, Heinrichshofen & Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven
Isaac Makhdoomi: Catching Moments, for alto recorder, EFT 3131, € 9.00, Edition Tre Fontane, Münster
Vivaldi Concerti per flauto e Arie. Isaac Makhdoomi, recorder; Ensemble Piccante; Arnaud Gluck, countertenor. Prospero PROSP0064
